F# Phrygian
The F# Phrygian mode (also written Gb) — F# G A B C# D E — shown across the guitar neck.
Also written Gb Phrygian. Gb and F# are the same pitch, though spelling it from Gb would need double accidentals (Gb Abb Bbb Cb Db Ebb Fb), which is why F# is the name in use.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
F# Phrygian is the natural minor with one note changed — the b2, G. That single note is what gives the mode its sound: lean on it and the colour is obvious. Leave it out and the melody alone could pass for plain minor — then it is the chords underneath that keep the mode.
What is F# Phrygian?
F# Phrygian is the seven notes F# G A B C# D E — the notes of D major started from its 3rd degree, F#. Same seven notes as the parent, but with F# as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
F# Phrygian vs F# natural minor
6 of the seven notes are the same. The difference is one note, and that is the whole character of the mode:
- b2 is G in Phrygian, where F# natural minor has 2, G#.
Play F# natural minor and F# Phrygian back to back over a F#m chord and listen for G — that is the note to lean on.
Chords in F# Phrygian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is F#m; the rest are the chords of D major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between F#m and G and the mode is unmistakable.
F# Phrygian on the guitar neck
Because F# Phrygian is D major from its 3rd note, its natural fingering is position 3 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of D major — the shape whose lowest note is F#. Learn that shape with F# as home — start and end on it, over a drone on F# or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with D as home and you hear D major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice F# Phrygian on guitar
- Loop position 3 of D major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on F# so your ear hears F# as home rather than D.
- Hold a F#m chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Land on G on the strong beats — that is the sound of Phrygian.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
The tool draws F# Phrygian from its own root: the orange dots are on F# and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, D major; to hear Phrygian, start and end on F#.
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